Police in the Netherlands have arrested seven men over an alleged plot to carry out what they describe as a major terrorist attack involving guns and explosives.
Police say the men were trying to source AK47s, hand grenades and bomb materials to carry out their attack.
The men, aged between 21 and 34, were arrested on Thursday.
Three had been arrested previously for trying to travel abroad to join foreign militants.
They say they were tipped off about the plot in April 2018 by intelligence services, who said the main suspect wanted to target “a large event in the Netherlands where there would be a lot of victims”.
The seven men were arrested in the central city of Arnhem and southern municipality of Weert on Thursday afternoon by anti-terrorism teams from the country’s Special Interventions Service (DSI).
Prosecutors believe the suspects wanted to carry out twin attacks involving a bomb and gun attack at an event and a car bomb detonated elsewhere.
Prosecutors say they were allegedly seeking firearms training and were arrested in possession of five small handguns.
The National Coordinator for Counterterrorism and Security (NCTV) told local media in a statement that the arrests reflect the “realistic” risk of attacks in the country.
The threat level in the Netherlands is currently set at four out of a maximum five.
